Breaking down the numbers of Maharashtra and Karnataka's journey.

Two strong and the deserved teams take on each other to crown themselves the Indian Domestic Champions. Bharath Seervi brings out a statistical preview of the final between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Karnataka and Maharashtra will play the final battle of Ranji Trophy 2013/14 at Hyderabad from January 29. Both teams look equally strong considering the current season performance. Six victories and four draws is what both the teams have produced in their ten matches this season.

Karnataka and Maharashtra will be playing against each other in Ranji Trophy final for the first time. They have played in the semifinal (1970/71) and quarterfinal (1975/76) earlier.

Maharashtra became the Ranji Trophy champion for the last time way back in 1940/41 whereas Karnataka’s last championship victory was in 1998/99. Both have a 50% win ratio in Ranji Trophy finals. Karnataka has won six out of 12 finals they played while Maharashtra won two of four.

Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy finals

Maharashtra have appeared in Ranji Trophy final four times. The last time they played a Ranji Trophy Final was in the season 1992/93 against Punjab which they lost by 120 runs. They became Champions twice (1939/40 and 1940/41) and Runner-Up twice.

Season

Against

Venue

Result

1939/40

United Provinces

Pune

Won by 10 Wickets

1940/41

Madras

Madras

Won by 6 Wickets

1970/71

Bombay

Bombay

Lost by 48 Runs

1992/93

Punjab

Ludhiana

Lost by 120 Runs

Karnataka in Ranji Trophyfinals

The final of season 2013/14 will be the 13th final for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy History. In previous 12, they had won six and lost six. Their last final appearance was in 2009/10 against Mumbai which they lost by six runs.

Season

Against

Venue

Result

1973/74

Rajasthan

Jaipur

Won by 185 Runs

1974/75

Bombay

Bombay (BS)

Lost by 7 Wickets

1977/78

Uttar Pradesh

Mohan Nagar (UP)

Won by Inn and 193 Runs

1978/79

Delhi

Bangalore

Lost by 399 Runs

1981/82

Delhi

Delhi

Lost on first Innings lead

1982/83

Karnataka

Bombay (WS)

Won on first Innings lead

1995/96

Tamil Nadu

Chennai

Won on first Innings lead

1997/98

Uttar Pradesh

Bangalore

Won on first Innings lead

1998/99

Madhya Pradesh

Bangalore

Won by 96 Runs

2009/10

Mumbai

Mysore

Lost by 6 Runs

Maharashtra’s performance this season

Maharashtra began their 2013/14 campaign with an easy win at their home ground (Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune) against Tripura. With three draws against Hyderabad, Goa and Andhra Pradesh, they were still contenders for the next round. Three wins in their next four games against Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala (drawn), Himachal Pradesh and Assam made them reach top of the Group C with a very good lead (35 points).

Maharashtra marched to the final of the Ranji Trophy 2013/14 with easy wins of eight wicket and ten wickets against Mumbai (in the quarterfinal) and Bengal (in the semifinal) respectively.

Against

Venue

Result

Tripura

Pune

Won by 9 Wickets

Hyderabad

Hyderabad

Drawn

Goa

Pune

Drawn

Andhra

Cuddapah

Drawn

Jammu and Kashmir

Pune

Won by 9 Wickets

Kerala

Kannur

Drawn

Himachal Pradesh

Pune

Won by 10 Wickets

Assam

Guwahati

Won by 128 Runs

Mumbai (quarterfinal)

Mumbai (Wankhede)

Won by 8 Wickets

Bengal (semifinal)

Indore

Won by 10 Wickets

Karnataka’s Performance this season

Karnataka, in Group A, had to draw their first three matches against Jharkhand, Gujarat and Vidarbha before winning the remaining five matches against Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, Mumbai and Delhi. All of their victories were by good margins — four wickets, three wickets, ten wickets, 160 runs and eight wickets.

Karnataka defeated Uttar Pradesh in the quarterfinals by 92 runs at their home ground — Chinnaswamy Stadium. Due to rain, the semifinal against Punjab at Mohali was drawn, but Karnataka moved to the final banking on the first innings lead.

Against

Venue

Result

Jharkhand

Mysore

Drawn

Gujarat

Bangalore

Drawn

Vidarbha

Nagpur

Drawn

Odisha

Cuttack

Won by 4 Wickets

Haryana

Rohtak

Won by 3 Wickets

Punjab

Hubli

Won by 10 Wickets

Mumbai

Bangalore

Won by 160 Runs

Delhi

Delhi

Won by 8 Wickets

Uttar Pradesh

Bangalore

Won by 92 Runs

Punjab

Mohali

Drawn

Karnataka vs Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy

Karnataka have always been a more dominating team than Maharashtra in their encounters other than the first two encounters in 1948/49 and 1970/71 when Maharashtra were at their peak. This can be depicted from the below data which shows the head to head results between the two teams.

Played — ten

Karnataka Won — five (three by an innings)

Maharashtra Won — two

Drawn — three (Karnataka won on the basis of first innings lead in two of those draws)

Best Bowling Figures in an inning by bowlers in Karnataka-Maharashtra encounters

Figures

Bowler

For

Match Inn

Venue

Season

7/29

Sunil Joshi

Karnataka

2

Bangalore

2008/09

7/80

Vithal Joshi

Maharashtra

4

Pune

1970/71

7/93

Javagal Srinath

Karnataka

4

Pune

1990/91

6/38

Vinay Kumar

Karnataka

3

Bangalore

2007/08

6/48

Dattaraya Chaudhari

Maharashtra

2

Bangalore

1948/49

Records and Milestones to aim for in the Ranji Trophy final:

- If Karnataka wins the final then they will join Delhi as the second most number of Ranji Trophy Championships (seven) behind Mumbai’s 40 triumphs.

- Kedar Jadhav (Maharashtra) has scored 1,074 runs in 15 innings at 89.50 this season. He just needs 16 more runs to become the fourth-highest run-getter in a Ranji Trophy season behind VVS Laxman’s 1,451 in 1999/00, Vijay Bharadwaj’s 1,280 in 1998/99 and Wasim Jaffer’s 1,260 in 2008/09. Ajinkya Rahane (1,089) and Sridharan Sriram (1,075) are the ones Jadhav is most likely to eclipse.

- Jadhav has also crossed the century mark five times this season. He is joint-second with 15 other cricketers who have scored five centuries in a season. Only Laxman (1999/00) has scored more centuries in a Ranji Trophy Season — eight.

- Harshad Khadiwale needs 20 more runs to become the 14th player to aggregate 1,000 runs in a Ranji Trophy Season.

- If Khadiwale scores those 20 runs, it will be only the third time in the history of Ranji Trophy that two players from same team aggregated a thousand or more runs in a season. Raman Lamba (1,034) and Ajay Sharma (1,033) had done it for Delhi in 1996/97 while Wasim Jaffer (1,260) and Ajinkya Rahane (1,089) for Mumbai in 2008/09.

- Lokesh Rahul (Karnataka) needs 127 runs to complete his 1,000 runs in this season. He will become the second player after Vijay Bharadwaj (1998/99) to complete 1,000 runs for Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy Season.

- Rohit Motwani (Maharashtra) has effected 38 dismissals (34 catches and four stumpings) this season. He is just three dismissals short of the record 41 dismissals by Uday Kaul (2012/13) and Aditya Tare (2012/13). Just for the information, Chidambaram Gautam (Karnataka) has 35 dimissals (33 catches and two stumpings) this season as well.